The Federation was a multi-territory nation that comprised the islands of Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts & Nevis, Anguilla, St Lucia, St Vincent & The Grenadines, and Trinidad & Tobago, with Port-of-Spain as its capital city. It came into existence in January 1958, went through its first general elections in March 1958, and was inaugurated as an internally self-governing British possession in April of the same year.

The Federal Parliament of the West Indies consisted of a House of Representatives with 45 elected members, and a Senate of 19 nominated members. And of course the Prime Minister of the Federation was our very own Sir Grantley Adams.

Unfortunately, because of internal disagreements, mostly between the political leaders of Trinidad and Jamaica, followed by the decision of Jamaica to withdraw from the Federation, it collapsed towards the end of 1961, and was dissolved the next year. Thus ended one of the most promising and inspiring episodes in the history of the Caribbean.

Indeed, so far have we fallen away from the ideals and aspirations of the great architects of Caribbean nationhood – T. Albert Marryshow, Arthur Cipriani, Hubert Crichlow, C.L.R James and Grantley Adams – that there has been virtually no acknowledgment of the 50th anniversary of the birth of the Federation! What does this say about the loss of vision and mission of such political parties as the Barbados Labour Party?

It is important to record that of the 45 men and women elected to the Federal House of Representatives 50 years ago, three of them are still alive. And one of the surviving three is that stalwart of the Barbados Labour Party – Mr Gilmore Roachford. The People's Empowerment Party (PEP) would like to publicly acknowledge Mr Roachford, and to express our hope that effective use will be made of his storehouse of information about this most critical and ambitious attempt at political union and nation building in the Caribbean.

The PEP would like to boldly proclaim that we are advocates of a new Federation or political union of the nation states of the Caribbean Community.

We are of the view that the fundamental problem of the Caribbean – weak and deficient structures of production, lack of food security, endemic unemployment and under-employment, diplomatic weakness, cultural and environmental vulnerability, mass poverty – can only be solved within the context of a multi-territory programme of planned economic and social development.

And this calls for a strong political union of our 14 mini-states, equipped with a regional executive arm that is capable of mobilising resources and planning and delivering region-wide development projects.

The weak and ineffective CRIBBEAN Single Market And Economy (CSME) simply cannot rise to this challenge. The CSME is a merchant capitalist-oriented, free trade mechanism, and constitutes a futile attempt to avoid the historical necessity of a political union of the Caribbean. It cannot deliver real progress to the Caribbean masses.

The PEP has committed itself to work towards the establishment of a "Union of Caribbean States". We will reach out to and collaborate with other political forces in neighbouring territories that are genuinely committed to the goal of political union.